Insert Here: Sensual and Artistic Portraits of Sex Toys [NSFW]

Insert Here: Sensual and Artistic Portraits of Sex Toys [NSFW]

This article contains media that the editors have flagged as NSFW.

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Sam Kaplan, a New York-based product and still life photographer, was inspired to create a series of photographs of an object that is often enjoyed in the bedroom rather than on a gallery wall. Sam decided to change all of that, and his series 'Insert Here' takes the taboo and transforms it into an exploration of line, form, and color: Dildart, if you will. It goes without saying that you might want to be careful where you open this post.

My walk home from the subway takes me past an impressive number of sex shops. One day I realized that if taken out of context these objects could become beautiful artifacts. I wanted to light them in a way that enforced that idea, so I applied similar lighting as I would if I were photographing a luxury item.—Sam Kaplan

via featureshoot.com

Mike Kelley's picture

Michael Kelley (mpkelley.com) is a Los Angeles-based architectural and fine art photographer with a background in digital art and sculpture. Using his backgrounds in the arts, he creates images that are surreal and otherworldly, yet lifelike and believable. A frequent traveler, Michael's personal work focuses on the built environment of unique

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47 Comments

I dont even know what to say.

LOL

I really like the way the light just penetrates the subject. *giggles*

ZING!

Those are very nice chess pieces you got there.

Those are floor models only, right?

My only question is why did you say that they were NSFW?  If they were "In Action" Shots, then THAT would be NSFW.  =)

I agree, but you and I both know that there would be a crowd of people with their pitchforks and torches out, feigning anger at us for not marking it NSFW. 

"WHAT IF MY BOSS SAW?" I don't know, why were you clicking on dildo pics at work? Think of it more as a CYA than anything :)

I would have just played dumb and if my boss got upset I would act like he just gave me a lesson in his own sex life.  I'm still trying to make sense of number 4.  http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2007/birdsizedair.jpg

hahaha I think it's a coat rack/ hat rack/ light bulb.  Fancy designers out there are thinking of everything!

come on... nr 4 is easy :) 

Congratulations, you just made Fstoppers officially banned at our school's photography program.
Show some common sense and maturity before deciding to post this kind of stuff.
If you've lowered your standards to this level, you must be getting desperate for content.

What school? 

Indeed. What school? That way I can avoid sending my children to such a closed-minded institution. Sex is not dirty, regardless of whatever puritanical bullish*t you attempt to impose on it.

The kind of response that one would expect.
Sad.

You must have missed the Fine Art of Breasts post, Morning After Boudoir post, Wrapping Up with Nude Photography post and even the Playmates in Bubbles post. Honestly K.G. I don't believe Fstoppers is designed to serve school children. 

unofficially, you are still allowed here to comment :)

story of my life Patrick ... "corey you are unofficially allowed to ________ here"

Many schools will look at nudity in an artistic manner as acceptable.
Sex toys on a photographic site such as this one is not possible to defend to the board, in any form.
Enter the real world.
Limits do exist.

What school?

My question is who is really banning anything?  Is there some big brother who is going through every post and ever cached thumbnail and deciding what is acceptable?  Also what school are you at?  If there was one thing I learned in college, and I learned A LOT, it's that school computers were built for porn....and warcraft

"If there was one thing I learned in college, and I learned A LOT, it's that school computers were built for porn....and warcraft" unofficially, yes.
Sitting in class at a level below college... no.

Go to any school and show them this post and ask them if they would allow it to be seen "in class, or in school".

If you think they'll say no problem, you'll be very surprised.

And yes, pretty much every school these days uses bots to search out exactly this type of post. NSFW is immediately flagged and killed, including the website.

Remember, these are the days of helicopter parents and precious snowflakes.

My point still stands.

There have been a few previous NSFW posts, so if that were true the site would have already been dead and you wouldn't have been able to see this post.  Stop overreacting, and tell your administrators to relax.

I went to Gonzaga University, a Catholic Jesuit institution, and this would have been welcomed in conversation with my Jesuit Priest teacher, in my photography class (or any class really). We would have dedicated a whole period to discussing it. To pretend this kind of thing doesn't exist hurts those who wish to learn. 

insert dildo and priest joke here ________________________

:)

 tihi....jaron said "period" :)) ( damn my immaturity )

This is not the first NSFW post on fstoppers. What school you at?

So I take it you think schools only have eight year olds?
It's quite clear by the comments (contrary to the posts to come saying they all have kids) that none of those saying theres nothing wrong have kids.
Fstoppers is a very informative site, no question, but as soon as a post shows the artistic side of sex toys, the site is immediately off limits.
Sex Ed in school is one thing, sex toys is quite another.
"Puritanical bullish*t".... nope.
What school did you go to where they talked about sex toys to you? In school?

K.G., calm down, get over yourself, untwist your knickers, and listen carefully.

FStoppers is not a porn site. Displaying dildos and vibrators is not nudity, it's product photography. But even if this post contained nudity (which it doesn't), photography has been utilized as a vehicle to celebrate the human form (clothed and unclothed) just like painting, almost since the moment the medium came into existence. 

That is an unequivocal and accepted reality of photography, and thus it is reasonable to expect that upon visiting a site catering to photographers one might from time to time see examples of nude photography. Its that simple. 

If you don't like that, the internet is a big open place. You're welcome to go elsewhere and find a site more suited to your delicate sensibilities, or to start your own. 

On another note, sex is one of the most basic functions of our human condition, and it is not in any way reprehensible or shameful for adults to talk about it. Moreover this site is not catering to school children. Even if it were, I am quite certain they wouldn't suffer any grave consequences by viewing these pictures.

I sincerely hope you find the inner peace you so desperately need <3

Never said it was a porn site, simply that posts like these can and do kill access to sites such as Fstoppers.

And trying to make it sound somehow like a credible, artistic post really doesn't work.

btw... I listened carefully, but I doubt you're going to show up at any school giving a workshop on the "Artistic Shooting of Sex Toys".

I sincerely hope you find the common sense you so desperately need <3

 KG... just stop being such a dildo already!!

I'm still confused... What school do you go to? I know it's been asked a couple times...

This isn't even pornography. It's quite creative actually. I wouldn't recommend people to go to your school if you actually even considered banning FStoppers in your school just because they uploaded pictures of dildos. It's like banning your students from using the internet just because there's porn on the internet. What kinda stupid logic is that? hahaha ;)

Who was the Einstein who clicked on the NSFW post at school is what I want to know.  Should it have been more specific "Hey dummy, don't click on this because your uptight school will ban the site for no good reason"  Also, these are objects that can be used for multiple things NOT sex related such as hand massages, back massages, foot massages etc... yes they work very well for these types of things (tip- go try it).  If I took a picture of one of those back massage units from brookstone and labeled the pics "NSFW" would you have the same response?  Every female that I've ever know who purchased one of these "Back Massagers" bought it for one thing, and it wasn't for a back massage.  So you're telling me that your school will let people look at Boobies and not get offended and they can't look at VERY common household objects without banning the website that clearly labled it NSFW?? The people banning this site probably have the biggest collection of..... Back massagers.... =)

I try not to let school interfere with my education. 

hahahahaha!

Must be a Catholic school. They are so up tight about everything. Stuck in the 12th century
A recovering Catholic

Good luck teaching photography without getting explicit.

So you're gonna ban your photo students from seeing this website, with all it's helpful and educational posts? Seems like that does more damage then them seeing sex toys(toys not sex) on here. which they could see anywhere else on the internet or in the outside world. smart move. smart move. cause they can't go home and look at fstoppers online, that would be crazy.

Wow K.G. Brown, you're an idiot: "Sex Ed in School is one thing, sex toys is quite another..." A lot of schools including mine incorporate a discussion about sex toys as part of sex education, as a safe alternative to unprotected intercourse. You can't get pregnant from a sex toy, and assuming you clean it properly before sharing, can't contract STD's from it either. 

Way to derail a thread that specifically says it "takes the taboo and transforms it into an exploration of line, form, and color" on a website about photography. 

And by the way, its not this website's job to protect anyone from the "real world" you talk about. 

"Enter the real world"
Sex toys exist. 
And someone has to photograph them.

[irony]

Are you completely sure about that pregancy-thingy? Cuz my girlfriends told me she got pregnant form one of those dildo-thingys.

They didn't talk about sex-toys in my school, so I wouldn't know..

[/irony]

I think this is amazing! I love how the subjects were lighted.

Honestly, FStoppers, screw the haters. You guys are awesome. 

Guys, can you just go ahead and send K.G. his refund check already?  

Yes, but only if we put "dildos and vibrators" in the "For" field of the check. 

50% for marijuana too... else wouldn't be funny

Love the pictures of chess pieces and that little spaceship :D

"honey.... i swear these are for a shoot... its not what it looks like!"

I think these images are brilliant, love them. and I believe there are many cultural differences in what might be NSFW around the place.

An artist did a whole project on moulding vagina lips in plastercast to make a board... that was amazing. Seriously what's wrong with skin, body parts and toys ? when did we loose the reality on things (i don't think we really were bothered with all the NSFW bullS"*ç% when we were kids running around the beach or peeing in the sand pit. :)